Vice President Artie Leichner expressed that he was more pleased with the new RTTT application than the old one since the Superintendent chaired the committee, but that he is concerned about the RTTT grant money running out in four years, particularly with a legislature and governor who are not keen on accepting federal money. We therefore need to plan for the future so that when the money runs out we have a system in place to fund education.
Board member Raquel Regalado brought up the fact that an SB6-like bill is already being discussed in legislature. Her concern with RTTT is that Tallahassee not create overreaching or conflicting guidelines. She said it would be useful to go to Tallahassee with an existing system agreed to by every district in the state of Florida; it would be superior to what Tallahassee forces on us and could mitigate damage caused by such an SB6-type bill.
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho agreed "wholeheartedly" with Regalado's statement. He further commented that he does not want any legislation in Tallahassee to exceed what was agreed to in the existing RTTT Memorandum of Understanding. The current MOU, which had teacher and union input, allows for no more than 30% of a teacher's evaluation to be based on student performance, and also allows for professional service contracts and insists that no limitations to collective bargaining arise as a consequence of the grant. The RTTT MOU, which, despite its improvements over the original, has still been maligned by some--with some reason--could in fact end up a saving grace, effectively preventing an uberconservative legislature and governor from pushing their plan all the way to its logical conclusion. We must hope for that, but be prepared to fight any overreach, as they are almost sure to try.
As of yesterday we have received unconditional approval of the RTTT grant; the money is now available to the district.
H-6 Marketing campaign
Dr. Feldman promotes the "marketing" of the public schools through yearbook giveaways, some kind of advertising, etc.; "anything that puts our schools out in the community in public relations." New board member Carlos Curbelo asked for a brief summary of what we do today as far as public relations go. John Schuster, Public Information Officer, says that we have a public relations department, which helps with getting stories in the newspaper and on the radio, and that a feasibility study could show what effect, if any, those public relations have had so far in attracting students back to district schools or in retaining them.
It seems that we are spending an inordinate amount of time and money right now trying to "market" our "product" (Schuster referred to "consumers of our product"...hmmm), i.e., trying to draw students back from charter schools. When we are being made to "compete" on a field where we do not play by the same rules as private schools and charter schools, we are forced to spend our already sorely stretched and limited funds to promote what is an essential public service. Is this waste of money in fact part of what so-called "reformers" were planning on as part of "forcing competition into education"? It does not seem like a stretch to imagine so...
Board member Dr. Martin Karp said he would like to see a comparison of the funds that we spend on "marketing" with that of charter schools, and see if any increase in enrollment due to our "marketing" campaign would offset the expense of said campaign. He said he would like to highlight our teachers with an emphasis on their experience and credentials if it is found that there is no cost involved or if the benefits would offset the cost.
Regalado said we should consider that all of them already have a lot of media access, a website, a newsletter, etc.; she said she thought they should have a more unified front in the message they are sending. Knowing that the mantra coming from Tallahassee is about choice, that is the mantra they should embrace. "If anyone can be the example of choice, it's us." She said that this could undercut the impact of the choice mantra coming from Tallahassee.
Dr. Marta Perez said that the idea of "no cost" is ridiculous because the feasibility study has already had a cost since some of our highest-paid employees work on this study. She said we haven't taken a position on charter schools but that even some of our own "choice" schools (i.e., magnet schools) have created a "brain drain" in our community schools. She said that choice programs are all elitist in some way because not all students can get in; that she has heard that sometimes children whose parents have certain connections get in. "We are not PR agents; I do not mind PR, but we are policy makers. I cannot imagine the students that are outperforming our students in Europe or Asia, I cannot imagine a body that represents students coming together in Asia or China saying we have to do more PR rather than spending the money in the classroom. Every penny should be spent on the classroom...When we see something that is clearly wrong, then we should speak up about it. Our employees are forbidden from speaking to the media without having permission from administration. The administration does not allow principals to speak to anyone about anything, and if they can go to the radio, may they also say the things that are wrong, without repercussion to their job." She said policy prevents employees from speaking to the media without permission and unless it's positive. "We have a long way to go before we should have any money being spent on PR. We already have a column in El Nuevo, we have all the board members who are active in the media. Even our Superintendent has a column in one of the smaller newspapers that, in my opinion, is something that is questionable in the sense that it is also a vendor. Our best PR is to do a good job for our students."
Regalado countered that she doesn't think anyone is condoning any type of censorship. "Since we're already promoting the district, we should focus on one aspect. The issue with our employees going on the radio and going to different media outlets and speaking about their schools--it was mentioned in the sense of promoting the schools that have done well. We are legally bound by the statements that employees make. Every single word that is uttered by our employees, whether in the media or in private, we are responsible for it. I don't want anyone viewing or listening to this thinking that we are in any way censoring our employees. It is a legal liability. We are all open and accessible to our employees' concerns. The policy exists for the protection of our district and of those very employees who at the end of the day would have to bear the cost of the litigation...PR is a very loose term. This agenda item asks for a feasibility study. My concern is with the PR campaign that is being levied against us, and that is a reality. It is not only concerning but it is also naive to believe that there is not a PR campaign being levied against us. It is naive of us to think that doing a good job is sufficient to receive the funding we are entitled to. Historically that is not the case. We have done a better and better job and have received less and less funding. The supermajority of the legislature and the governor have already said they do not want to accept stimulus funding. To ignore this reality would be detrimental, not only to our teachers but to our students. We can't just pretend like this doesn't exist. That's why this is important. That's why we need to talk about choice. Our district is very different from other districts in the state of Florida, but we're all being lumped together. We are in a minority. We must rally and stand up for our rights. I don't care if you call it a PR campaign or marketing or common sense, but if someone is attacking us and is going to provide us with less funding, I believe it is in our obligation as public officials to strike back. I would like to do it in a positive way if that is possible, but I am open to do it in any way I can."
Board member Renier Diaz de la Portilla said he doesn't think we need a public relations campaign to get information about how well our schools are doing out to the public. He said we don't need a board item for this. "Let's say that some of us support some of the reforms coming out of Tallahassee...I don't think this is a wise course to take with this item." He says he does favor a more streamlined approach to getting our information out there. "I see this item enhancing or increasing our PR efforts and I'm not in favor of that, given the economics of the school district, and I'm concerned about the perception of this, that we are politicking."
Wait--say that again, Mr. De La Portilla? "Let's say that some of us support some of the reforms coming out of Tallahassee?" Repeat? Shall I guess which of you support those reforms? And which reforms, exactly, do you support? Elimination of professional service contracts? Teachers' salary--and certification--based on the results of reliably unreliable standardized tests that speak more to children's socioeconomic status than to the quality of their teachers? Expansion of charter schools, which studies show do not typically outperform public schools and, in fact, and specifically in Florida, often do worse? Or perhaps he supports our new governor's plan to make vouchers available to all children and allow parents to send tax money to any school of their choice--including religious schools and for-profit schools? We should grill Mr. De La Portilla a little more about the reforms he supports; if he supports the privatization of public education, then it is perhaps a conflict of interest for him to sit on the School Board, where he is expected to advocate for public education.
Dr. Tee Holloway: "If we are doing such a fantastic job at what we are doing and we are reaching, why are we still losing students?"
Dr. Karp specified that nothing in the item said that we should be spending more on PR; it only asks for a review of our current efforts and to see what our policies are. Anything that we consider in this district, we should think about whether it's cost-beneficial to the district. "I don't favor anything that is going to take money away from somewhere else, but maybe this will bring in money. There is nothing in here that says we are going to spend money. We don't have to approve recommendations or support them if we don't feel they are beneficial to this district."
Curbelo said that he is opposed to a corporate-style marketing campaign but that he does advocate that success stories get out to the community. He asked if they could amend the item from saying "marketing" to "information" and the word "awareness" would substitute the word "relations." Dr. Feldman agreed to the amendment.
Dr. Perez voted "no" to the amendment because she said that changing the word would not change the intent of the item. She insisted that the intent of the item implied that we could spend money on marketing, and that nobody who might want to provide grants to us would be impressed by the fact that we spent some of our very limited resources on marketing.
Carvalho said he sees no problem with talking about the good things our public schools do, getting the word out there. He said an awareness campaign is not "putting a new paint of coat on a beat-up Volkswagen...I for one am incredibly proud of our students who are achieving and those who are struggling because we love them, we hug them, we teach them."
Diaz de la Portilla and Perez voted "no" on item H-6.
H-8: Notice of Non-Compliance with Class Size Amendment
Vice President Artie Leichner said that, knowing beforehand what might be the consequences, the Board should have taken some preventive measures back in March or April; now they're having to chase it. When they talk about school choice, are they going to maintain the adequacy of public schools? "Public education is the paramont responsibility of the state...You have a responsibility in our constitution to have collective bargaining. All studies need to be done proactively, not retrospectively. If you know there is going to be something coming up in the legislature that impedes your ability to negotiate with your unions, you have to know what your options are so that you are not having to chase your tail."
Dr. Karp asked if there were any penalties mentioned in the notice of non-compliance.
The School Board's attorney said that the notice did not state what the penalties would be, but based on the statute they could guess. "[I]t does trigger certain requirements and issues we need to explore from a legal standpoint...To the extent that the statute is specific to what the legal penalties would be, there are a lot of issues to explore there...there are a number of remedies that could be pursued, and not all of them involve filing a lawsuit."
Curbelo, who is serving on the incoming governor's education transition team, said that he is working with the legislature to see if we can eliminate these penalties. "I certainly have expressed my frustration with the lack of funding from the state." He said that he is concerned that some legislators may view this as an aggressive action on our part and may hurt our efforts to get these issues resolved without a lawsuit, but merely through legislative action.
Regalado said that the item is just requesting a legal opinion; it would still have to come before the board before taking legal action. "As an attorney my concerns have to do with timeliness...this is just the first step moving into what those remedies will be...We should look into all options; I'm concerned with the possibilities of a set-off if they do not waive the fees. This is just one of the many conversations that we will be having with our legislators and it provides us with information as we move forward with our decisions so that we will not merely be victimized by Tallahassee."
Carvalho said, "There is an extensive appeals process where counties can explain why they were unable to meet or decided not to meet the class size amendment. In our case, we chose not to meet it because of its collateral impact on educational programs."
Curbelo said that the timing of the item is unfortunate. "Perhaps in January or February we will have a better idea what the legislature is going to do."
Dr. Perez said, "I agree with Ms. Regalado that this is not an aggressive item but an assertive item."
Carvalho said, "As soon as the state takes the step of trying to collect one penny from a district, you have an aggrieved party, and at that moment action can be taken."
De la Portilla said he is "concerned about how this could be viewed as a hostile action by the hand that feeds us." Really? The hand that feeds us? Apparently, De la Portilla doesn't have much of a problem with us begging for scraps at the table like so many dogs.
He says that we could accomplish what they want to do and still stay out of the line of fire of the legislature because it could be viewed negatively by those creating public policy in Tallahassee. He essentially said that those who voted against Amendment 8 created this issue, because if they had approved the relaxation of the class size amendment we would not be facing this problem of fines. He said that the legislature has already given us waivers after waivers in the past.
Once again, De la Portilla seems to have taken the side of the legislature over the side of those of us who educate children and therefore, ultimately, the children.
De la Portilla, Mindingall, Curbelo, Karp and Hantman voted against the item.
H-9 Agenda Procedure
De la Portilla wants to change the rulemaking proceedings so that items are received in a timely fashion so that all members have a chance to read and review them before voting on them; otherwise "votes could be manipulated." Hmmm...I wonder what he knows about votes being manipulated?The Board will take up the matter at an upcoming Board Retreat.
Superintendent recognized schools for results of school grades, calling them historic. For the first time ever 1/3 of senior high schools earned an A grade. Statewide, only 30% statewide earned an A and Miami Dade had 34%. Nearly 60% of high schools got an A or a B. Carvalho congratulated Edison and Central Senior High for moving from an F to a C. He called it "tremendous news for Miami-Dade County."
On Friday Miami Herald education reporter Kathleen McGrory reported on the record number of high schools whose grades had increased dramatically, despite slight or nonexistent gains on the FCAT, due to the new high school accountability system which kicked in this year and gives points not just for FCAT scores, but also for participation and performance in Advanced Placement, dual enrollment and International Baccalaureat programs. She suggested that schools, the district or possibly the state were manipulating statistics with this new system in order to give the appearance that schools are making more progress than they actually are.
State senator Dan Gelber, unsuccessful in his candidacy for state Attorney General, published a blog on December 7 pointing out that, while the state boasts of huge gains in progress in high schools, that according to all national measures we still rank among the bottom 10 states in every category, including graduation rates, composite ACT scores and SAT scores, school funding per capita, and only 37th of 50 states in teacher pay. Is this sudden spike in school grades just a ploy to show that underfunding public school is actually a formula for success?
We must pay close attention to how the district, the state, and politicians play this card in the months and years to come.
